Could 'Fifty Shades of Grey' be behind Windsor's baby boom?

Windsor Regional Hospital president thinks popular book by E. L. James could have contributed to spike in births

Published On: Nov 15 2012 10:49:24 PM EST

A Windsor, Ontario hospital saw a rise in the number of births and the hospital's CEO speculates the popular book by British author E. L. James could be behind it.

Millions of copies of the book "Fifty Shades of Grey" have been sold. Described as a story that will "obsess you, possess you and stay with you forever," could this erotic thriller be behind a baby boom?

David Musyj, the CEO and president of Windsor Regional Hospital speculates that could be the reason behind a recent surge of births at the hospital according to a spokesperson.

The hospital had 80 babies born over six days, which is about a 30 percent spike from an average week.

"So it's been a very busy spot," said Dr. Bill Mundle, the Medical Director of Maternal Fetal Medicine at the hospital. "I don't think there are many people kind of saying that's the exact reason but it seems like an odd coincidence."

Mundle said a connection to the book is a reasonable hypothesis, but he also said they can see a rise in late September which is about nine months after the holidays.

"In our business, you know, it's common that you see quiet days and busy days but it certainly was quite an extraordinary run, you know, for the unit," said Mundle.

"Fifty Shades of Grey" tells the tale of when a student named Anastasia Steele meets entrepreneur Christian Grey. Dr. Mundle said those are names he is seeing a little more.

"Definitely, there's been some names that we haven't seen before that are associated with that book right?" said Mundle.

James' book has been on the New York Times best seller list for 36 weeks, but is the math close enough? Possibly, but not every new mom believes the book is behind the boom.

"I think it's crazy because I never read the book and I had a baby. I don't think a book can have any impact on someone getting pregnant and having a child," said Amanda Mceldowney.

Mceldowney gave birth to her daughter Jaelynn Marie during the Windsor baby boom. It's her second child and she plans to tell her about the boom when she gets a little older.

"For sure I'll let her know, let her know that you're a little piece of history of the baby boom,'" said Mceldowney. "And that you had nothing to do with the book either because I never read it."

Local 4 checked with a couple of metro Detroit hospitals to see if they were seeing a "Fifty Shades of Grey" baby boom, but they said no so far.

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